


The Truth, Rhys

by TheSteampunker (orphan_account)



Category: Borderlands
Genre: But i hope you enjoy anyways, Eventual Smut, First fic please be nice, Little! Angel, M/M, Protective Father! Jack, Siren! Rhys, Slow Burn, Younger! Jack, but since I literally have a book full of headcannons it'll get better in the middle, he's not THAT young xD, idk like 34 ish, maybe anxiety trigger, mostly going to be Jack being super rude in the beginning, oh boy here we go - Freeform, probably a lot later cause I'm lazy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-06-06 18:40:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6765415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/TheSteampunker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I won't ask you another time Rhys." Jack muttered angrily as his hands started to slowly wrap tighter and tighter around Rhys' neck. "I don't want to hear anymore lies coming from your insignificant mouth." He hoisted Rhys up off the floor, the silence in air only pierced by his ragged breaths. "The truth, Rhys."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Janitor Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Have any requests/special comments? Kik me: TheSteampunker!

“What do you fucking mean, **two more weeks?!** ” Jack’s shout echoed throughout the meeting room. The heads of the departments quivered in their seats as Jack walked around, hands wringing behind his back. “I cannot **afford** two more weeks, you fucking pieces of trash! Do you not understand what kind of business I am running?!” Jack shrieked into the head of engineering’s ear and he sat there, shaking in his boots.

Jack groaned loudly once more before shoving the engineer away from him, rubbing the backs of his palms into his eye sockets. Shoving the table next to him, the glasses on top of it shattered over the floor as Jack breathed heavily with anger. He took his gun and shot one of the janitors that came in to clean it as soon as he walked through the door, hearing nothing but his body hit the floor as the board room was silenced.

“Out.” Jack muttered as his red vision started to dissipate. “ **OUT!** ” He shrieked once more as the members of his company scrambled over one another to get out of the room, stepping cautiously over the janitor’s dead body on the ground. And finally… he groaned as he glanced at the small janitor’s corpse. His face was stuck in shock, arms clutching the bullet wound dead center in his sternum. He was leaking blood all over Jack’s meeting room floor and he sighed, running his hands through his hair.

He needed **another** janitor. To clean up the **other** janitor.

How complicated.

Jack pressed the button on his ECHOcom, and Maya’s face appeared annoyed on the other side of it.

“What now, sir.” She sounded extremely bored and was glanced at her freshly painted nails, fanning them every once in a while.

“I need another janitor.” Jack grumbled and kicked the shards of broken glass on his way out of the room, up towards his penthouse on the 47th floor.

“Sir, I just sent one up a minute ago…” Maya started only to be interrupted soon after.

“He’s dead, Maya!” Jack breathed in once and looked calmly into the ECHOcom. “Just… send me another one.” Maya shrugged and closed the connection as Jack started up the stairs to the elevator. He sighed, clicked the key into the elevator operation machine, and waited for his floor.

What was he going to do.

Two week behind schedule… Atlas was going to ruin him three times over in that amount of time. He growled to himself and started to pace around the elevator as it made its slow ascend up to his floor.

He knew what was wrong. The first programming into the gun had been faulty, leading to at least ten deaths in R&D, not that Jack cared. Jack could send them a faulty nuclear bomb and they’d still take the radiation as if it was a pleasure to absorb. He scoffed at the pure loyalty of his workers to lay themselves in front of him just so he could step on them to get up to his high pedestal. But he brought his mind back to the task at hand.

Everything else was done. He just needed the programming for the correct amount of insertion of plutonium and beryllium so that it would create the vortex bullet.

Yes, he just said vortex bullet.

A genius invention really, just one shot would suck the subjects’ gravity in on itself, successfully crushing the subject while leaving no mess to clean up.

It was originally meant for when Jack needed to kill someone insignificant but didn’t want the whole janitor situation happening again. But upon deciding to release it down in Pandora, the hype ensued. Pandorians could not get enough of propaganda for the stuff, some shooting others to get in line for the release.

Which conveniently happened to be in two days.

Fuck.

He needed a programmer that was efficient, loyal and could get the most complex programming Jack had ever asked for from someone down in two days.

Jack almost banged his head against the elevator wall.

It was **impossible**.

The elevator dinged and he stepped out, slowly making his way towards his couch through the wide open space in his office. The TV was still on, probably left on from when he woke up half off the couch this morning.

But there was another body on the couch, a small one, curled up into a small ball, scrawny arms wrapped around a gigantic horse plushie with eyes that sparkled like they were diamonds. Because they were.

After the terrible night Jack had, he finally smiled at the small child in front of him, slowly sitting down next to her and pushing her hair from out of her face. She almost instantly woke up, rubbing her eyes with small fists as she yawned from the awakening. Jack waited patiently as the small child placed her stuffed horse gingerly down next to her before finally turning her head to face the man sitting next to her.

Her face lit up instantly. “Daddy!” She squealed and leaped at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder for a hug. Jack laughed for the first time in what seemed like ages as he pulled her even closer, falling onto the couch behind him. She pulled back and grabbed her horse. “Butt Stallion and I have missed you!” His daughter squealed once again as she thrust the plushie into Jack’s face and he grabbed the horse.

“Well, you can tell Butt Stallion that I missed him too.” Jack laughed as his daughter’s face pouted. She crossed her arms and followed him with tiny steps as he took strides away from the couch, horse in hand.

“What about me?” His daughter whined and pulled on his pant leg, as Jack looked in the air, puzzled. “What about your daughter?”

“What daughter?” Jack questioned sarcastically and the small child scoffed, pulling her father’s pant leg harder. He finally laughed and kneeled down next to her, pulling her in for another hug. “I’m just kidding.” He pulled her in tighter, pressing his chin into the top of her head and breathing in deeply. “I’ve missed you **so much** , baby girl.”

His daughter giggled and gripped her father’s shirt as he continued to hug her.

“My little Angel.”

Jack finally pulled away from his daughter, looking at her lovingly for a second before grabbed her torso and heaving her up onto his shoulder as she screamed. “But it’s time to go to bed, Angel. Daddy owes you a waffle breakfast tomorrow, bright and early!” Jack shouted as he trotted over to the separate part of his penthouse, the colors instantly shifting from darker with hints of yellow to more pinks and warmer colors. He ducked under the doorway to her bedroom as she laughed on his shoulder, stopping right at the foot of her bed. He picked her up from his shoulder and placed her down gingerly beneath her comforter, pulling it up to almost cover her nose as she giggled.

Her little hands grabbed it and pulled it down to reach her arms out as Jack handed her Butt Stallion. He kissed her forehead gingerly. “Goodnight, baby girl.”

“Night, daddy.” Angel smiled as she turned over, pulling up the covers over her and Butt Stallion.

Jack smiled and sighed, slowly making his way out and closing the door to make sure she slept quietly. Jack breathed out heavily once more.

This might get a little loud.

 

He stormed away from her door and her section of his penthouse, quickly looking up at the ceiling as soon as he was across the “border”. He made sure to mutter calmly to his ECHOcom, he did not want another broken machine in the graveyard next to his desk.

“Maya. Please engage silencing protocol.” He calmly took another breath out as he heard the walls behind him close off, sealing his daughter in a sound proof room that he could not get past until his heart rate was below 75 beats per minute. Which might take a while.

He felt his blood pressure spike as all the anger from today rushed back into his system. He screamed, probably gibberish but his vision still turned red and his mind blanked. His anger overtook him and all he could feel was the pounding in his skull as his mind blanked.

He “woke” up around half an hour, not really remembering how he got in the middle of his desk that conveniently happened to be broken in half. He rubbed his eyes as he came to, not really surprised. His anger flashes were a common thing, becoming more and more common by the day. But once he got up, he really was glad he sealed off his daughter.

He had never seen so much destruction from an anger flash, but there it was. Everything was broken. The couch, the television, the computer, the desk, the chair, the coffee table. The only thing untouched was the kitchen and he inferred that it was probably because the twenty feet away it was from the main office was too far. He sighed but started to wipe the blood off of his knuckles, wiping some more from his face as he went to the stairs.

“Sir?” A voice rang out from behind him, clear and unfazed. Jack slowly turned, clutching his right fist to his chest as it stung with pain.

“What, Maya.” Jack said before he even got a look at the unamused Siren. She smiled sarcastically before approaching Jack very closely. He backed up once before she grabbed his shirt and placed her hand near his face. “What are you…” A searing pain hit Jack in the cheekbone and Maya finally pulled back, a long sliver of glass in her hand.

“You had a piece of glass in your face. **Sir.** ” She enunciated sir with true sass. Jack would have smiled if his face hadn’t had hurt so much. “I’ll make sure everything’s replaced by tomorrow morning, Jackie.”

“It **is** your job, Maya.” Jack sneered as he turned back around, ascending the spiral staircase up to his master bedroom. And collapsing on his bed, not even finding the motivation to bind his wounds.

And so he fell asleep. In a pool of his own blood. What was new.

 

 

Rhys jolted awake, his roommate Vaughn standing over him.

“Uh bro? You’re covered in sweat again.” Vaughn stated as a matter of fact, pushing the glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He sniffled once and then held out a hand for Rhys to take.

“Ugh, I am?” Rhys mumbled as he grabbed Vaughn’s hand, the other pressing the back of his palm into his ECHOeye, trying to wake it up. He felt a whirring inside of his head and opened his other eye, feeling it glitch for a few seconds before finally focusing on his friend in front of him.

“Yes. And it is absolutely disgusting.” Vaughn tried to mutter nicely and Rhys laughed, patting his friend on the back before stumbling his way over to the bathroom.

“Anything else?” Rhys asked as he pulled his sweat soaked pajama shirt over his head.

“Yeah, you’re ten minutes late for work.” Vaughn whispered finally at Rhys’ widened eyes.

“ **SHIT.** ” Rhys shouted as he got quickly got ready and bolted out the door.

 

 

Rhys stumbled into his department, struggling to finish his tie off as he plopped into his seat at the meeting table. It hadn’t started yet, thank heavens, but everyone was still looking at the ruffled man in confusion.

He had definitely had a shit night.

He kept having these flashbacks or nightmares of his surgery. He was told that there were no complications but he kept remembering the surgery as if there was nothing that went **right.** Rhys snapped out of it as soon as his dick of a boss, Vasquez walked in. That’s also when Rhys stopped paying attention and started to doodle on the notepad in front of him.

“Business, business, business. Business. Business. Business. Handsome Jack. Business.”

_Wait, what?_

Rhys finally looked up from his dick doodle of Vasquez and was definitely surprised. Vasquez was still up there, the little man but there was also a very tall man next to him. Very tall. Very muscular. And very commanding.

It was Handsome Jack.

 _No, let me correct that._ It was Handsome **GODDAMN** Jack. And he was standing in the middle of the board room in a power stance with his classic smile on his face.

_Oh boy, today’s gonna be good._

“Hello, small programming gremlins. I have a task to ask for only the best of you.” _Gremlins. Wow, I feel so appreciated._ “I have a project that injects an unstable amount of two chemicals into a bullet and then it creates a vortex bullet.” Jack stated as a matter of fact and then walked around the room, glancing at us every once in a while to make sure we were keeping up with his _big words._ Rhys rolled his eyes at his boss. Okay, he did respect the guy, bringing up Hyperion from nothing to the most powerful company this side of Pandora, but sometimes the guy really knew how to be condescending.

“Who would like to complete the project?” Jack shouted with a smile and all of the programmers at the table bowed their heads, trying to avoid the eye contact of his heterochromatic eyes. Rhys went back to drawing his boss as a dick, definitely not noticing that he was legitimately right behind him. He also didn’t notice the noise of anguish he made when he noticed the sketch on his notepad.

“Rhys!” Vasquez’s voice rang out in the quiet meeting room and even Jack looked in his direction. Vasquez shrunk for a second, realizing he was under the gaze of his boss, but then smiled and hit Rhys over the head with a thin folder.

“What is this?” Vasquez sneered at Rhys, spitting in his face probably not so accidently. Rhys almost laughed at the failure of an intimidation. _Might as well repurpose some of the sass Yvette gives me._

“It’s your final form, assbag.” Rhys muttered under his breath, smiling at Vaughn’s scared expression. _He couldn’t hear that._ Vasquez turned a new shade of cranberry and the entire meeting room was quiet until a loud laugh filled it.

All heads turned to the noise and it was Jack, head thrown back in full laughter and clutching his stomach in pain. _Well, if Jack could hear it. So could Vasquez. Shit._

“Oh boy, Wallethead.” Vasquez’s face dropped from the old nickname. “I thought seeing that little flap of skin on the back of your head from the hair implants was the funniest thing I’ve seen done to you, but **that** was brilliant.” Jack was almost crying, pounding his fist against the table in a full laugh. Rhys started to smile a little at his bosses cherry face and his skittish behavior. Jack stumbled up to him, grabbing his shoulder and then shaking him as he continued to laugh.

“Ah, man. Wallethead. **That** was gold.” Jack patted Vasquez’s back and started to stumble towards the door. He gripped the door frame and started on his way out.

“I have to go tell Maya about this, Wallethead. Send me a excellent programmer at 1400 sharp. I need to discuss the plans with them but I can’t stop laughing…” chuckle, “right now.” Jack smiled and whipped out of the room, leaving the rest of the meeting table in shambles.

Whispers and gossip started instantly. About the project. About Rhys’ drawing. About how Jack literally just stopped in to see Vasquez get humiliated and then just _fucking **left**_ **.**

“So. Rhys.” Vasquez started and Rhys instantly sighed.

“What, Wallethead?” Rhys muttered once again, laughing a little while he felt good about impressing Jack and Vasquez grabbed the front of his shirt, swinging him around and making Vaughn cringe across the table. Rhys tried to continue his sass approach but at this point, the fury in Vasquez’s eyes was kind of terrifying.

“You!” Vasquez smiled in a crooked kind of way, his usually perfectly placed hair smashed into his face and around his eyes. Rhys shrunk back in his boss’s grip, not realizing how much this would actually get him into trouble. Okay, adrenaline had drained away now and Rhys was back to himself again. And he was completely fucked for it.

_Thanks so much for split second decisions._

“You might just find yourself floating outside my office window in a few minutes, Rhys. I’m about up to here with you.” Vasquez gestured up above his head and Rhys gulped, shrinking back even more in his Hyperion vest. “But you do make the programs I get to sign my name onto,” Vasquez shoved Rhys back into his seat and he gasped, trying not to shake as the man strutted around the table, “so I’ll have to come up with another punishment for you.” Good to know he wasn’t the only one feeling scared, the rest of the programming team not used to seeing Vasquez so mad. He was usually the laughing stock of the department, until his temper rose and he threw someone out of his airlock.

“Maybe I could rip off your other arm, kid.” Vasquez leaned in closely to Rhys’ face and smiled at the man’s terrified expression. “Or maybe a loader bot could rip you in half, then sew you back together.” Vasquez was insane. He had never gotten this angry.

“Or maybe…!” Vasquez started, raising his fist in the air before being interrupted by a lady with blue hair, standing in the doorway.

She coughed and Vasquez swerved towards her, fury in his eyes from his maniacal montage being interruption.

“How dare you! I am the head of…”

“Asshats, from what I hear.” She interjected as she stared at her cuticles, instantly making Vasquez’s face turn a deeper shade of red. She looked up as Vasquez started at her.

She almost laughed, a scoff really and then held her hand up to stop him. He laughed louder back and continued closer and closer to her. Finally she rolled her eyes, shrugged her shoulders and then puller up the sleeve on her large cardigan.

Welp.

Those were tattoos.

And they were glowing.

Vasquez had just pissed off a Siren.

Oh boy.

She smiled at the panic in his eyes and then he was gone. Like fucking poof.

_She teleported him somewhere, but where?_

“Ah, okay, now that the head of asshats is dealt with, what did I hear about you being the best programmer?” She gestured to Rhys and he slowly stood up, only relaxing when her tattoos started to lose the cyan aura.

“Calm down, kiddo. I just need a programmer now cause Jack got too impatient with his own deadline.” Rhys raised and eyebrow. She sighed. “He does that a lot.”

Rhys finally swallowed and tried to regain his voice and that rush of adrenaline. _Sigh, it’s not coming back is it._

“Yeah, I guess you could say I’m good.” Rhys stumbled with his words in front of the frighteningly powerful woman.

He could only stare in amazement at the pure power the Siren held, he was truly impressed, and not that he’d ever admit it. “I mean, yeah I’m good but I’d really rather not die by disappointing Handsome Jack.” Rhys glanced back at Vaughn and the pure terror in his eyes was enough to make Rhys’ stomach start to do flips.

Maya finally looked at the thin man and nodded, pursing her lips to the side. “Well. You’ll have to get over that. Come with me.” She laughed and snatched Rhys’ elbow to his cybernetic arm, dragging him away from the room.

“Wait. Please! Anyone else, I do not want to die!” Rhys pleaded with her as she chuckled, continuing to the elevator and shoving him inside after stepping in herself.

“Well, kid. You’re going to have to get over that fear. Or else you’ll die that much quicker.” She smiled at Rhys’ horrified face and smacked the elevator buttons, propelling the elevator upwards at what felt like light speed.

 _I’m so doomed._ Rhys thought somberly while he was still collapsed in a heap on the ground. _So, so very doomed._


	2. Waffle Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting into business with Handsome Jack can be a dangerous game.

Jack had his face pressed firmly into the couch, realizing that leaving the programming department and all of its stench before finding an actual programmer to **program his gun** was not the brightest idea. He was about to start throwing the pillows at the flat screen in front of him before he stopped himself. _Now, is not the time Jack. Angel’s door is open and she will be coming out any…_

            “Daddy!”

            _… time now._

            Jack picked himself up and rubbed his hands over his masked face before smiling at his daughter. She was still in her pajamas, the sweet girl, and was clutching her plushie of her other favorite toy, Claptrap.

            _Man, that robot was annoying._

            Jack picked her up and swung her so she could sit on his forearm, carrying her carefully to the kitchen and then placing her on the island counter.

            “I believe I did owe you a waffle breakfast, Madame.” Jack pretend twirled his moustache and laughed along with Angel. “I will get started on that right away.” He bowed low and snatched the waffle maker from under the counter, plugging it in on the way up. He popped up, making Angel burst into another fit of giggles before whirling over to the pantry to find the waffle mix. As Angel started to play with the screen on the island to find out what was happening today with her father’s schedule.

            He pushed her away from the screen, not wanting to think about work right now, and pulled her closer, shoving the mix into her hands.

            “Madame, would you please measure 2 cups of waffle mix while I grab the water and oil.” Angel straightened her pretend hat and saluted to her father, while trying desperately not the laugh. Jack smiled and grabbed a glass of water and oil swinging back to his daughter not shortly afterwards.

            “Perfectamente Madame! Please, I’ll let you do the honors.” Jack stated as he handed his daughter the wooden spoon to begin stirring the batter as Jack turned on the waffle maker to begin its heating cycle. But not shortly after Jack was going to grab the batter, he heard a knock on the door.

            He growled. Angel dropped her spoon into the batter and looked at her father in confusion as he started to rub his temples and eye sockets.

            “Let me in, Asshat.” A female voice could be heard beyond the door and Jack groaned once more, pressing his weathered hands against his small daughter’s shoulders.

            “Language!” Jack yelled back at the door, still trying to cease the pounding in his head from the headache that just surfaced.

            “Daddy will be right back, okay baby girl?” Angel started to frown but Jack smiled sheepishly and kissed her on the cheek for good measure before leaving her side to answer the door.

            Maya stood unamused at the other side and that one programmer who insulted Wallethead was beside her. Jack almost felt steam come out his ears at the sight of the both of them, but tried to contain his anger for his daughter’s sake.

            “What are you… doing here… Maya.” He struggled to let out words and not just strangle her on the spot.

            “Well, you asked me to bring up a programmer to your penthouse as soon as possible, boss man.” She spat back at him, smiling at his astonished face. He knew he couldn’t necessarily kill her without the collar, and she had hidden the only prototype he had upon entering his employ. Clever girl.

            Jack sighed and gestured her in, glaring at both of them and making the programmer shrink even smaller than he had collapsed before. Maya instantly walked away from the kitchen and towards the living room, plopping down on the couch and flipping through the channels before settling on a fake cop kind of show. Rhys followed her, unsure before Jack realized that the goddamn programmer was going to see Angel. He instantly went into action, snatching Angel off the counter and covering her mouth before stashing her under the island, to hide her from his vision.

            “Maya, take the programmer to the meeting room. I have precious… cargo in this room.” Jack muttered furious, barely above the island and Maya instantly widened her eyes. She mouthed ‘sorry’ before kicking the programmer away and into a separate room. Rhys yelped in pain before falling through the doorway in which Maya closed instantly after she entered. Jack breathed out once more before picking Angel back up and setting her on her feet on the ground.

            “Waffles tomorrow, sweetheart. Daddy’s got some business to take care of.” But Angel wouldn’t have any of it.

            “She started to whine instantly and grabbed the pant leg of her father’s leg. She shook it in her little 8 year old fists and then stomped her foot.

            “No, daddy!” She sniffled and Jack felt a pain in his chest. “You haven’t been spending any time with me lately!” She sniffled once more and toughly tried to wipe her eye. “I want my daddy here, with **me**.” Jack felt the pain in his chest get even larger. _Is this was a heart attack felt like?_ Jack knelt down to try and push the hair out of Angel’s face but she refused, stepping back away from Jack and dashing in the opposite direction before he could grab her. He gasped as he started directly in the direction of said programmer and Maya, trying desperately to snatch her before she did what he **knew** she would do.

            “Angel!” Jack shouted before Angel yanked open the door and in front of the programmer.

            “Look at me, Mr. Programmer! I’m Angel! And my dad is Handsome Jack!” Angel enunciated ridiculously as she slid towards Rhys, latching herself onto his leg. Rhys stood there extremely confused as Angel wrapped her grip tighter along his striped dress pants. “Now daddy will have to spend time with me!” Angel pressed her face into the programmer’s leg and sniffled once more.

            Jack stood in the doorway, fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. “Or daddy could just kill the programmer, baby girl.” He muttered and Angel instantly pulled her pleased face back from the programmer. She looked at her father in the doorway, her expression instantly turning to guilt.

            “But, wait, daddy!” Jack started towards the programmer and Rhys took a step back, still surprised about the whole **daughter** thing. “I didn’t mean for you to…”

            “Well, sweetheart, to keep you safe, daddy needs to minimize the people that actual know you **exist**.” Jack smiled as he grabbed the front of Rhys’ shirt, pulling him closer to Jack’s wicked expression. Rhys tried to squirm in his grasp but Jack grabbed the back of his hair with his other hand and silenced him with a yank.

            “Daddy, no!” Angel wailed as she tugged on her father’s pant leg more and more, tears now streaming down her face.

            “Jack, okay, she got the point. Stop this!” Maya screamed as she tried to pull Jack away from the programmer who was now being hoisted off the ground but was shoved back for her efforts. She grunted but then stood up slowly, her eyes now fierce. Her tattoos started to glow again. “Jack, don’t make me initiate protocol 47.” Maya practically whispered in the dead silent room. “Please.”

            Jack was still laughing, holding the squirming Rhys up above his head. But then, Rhys decided if he was going to die, he wasn’t going to have **no** last words.

            “Jack!” He shouted, closing his eyes. Jack stopped, shocked. “For your daughter, Angel’s sake, stop.” Rhys was surprised at his own voice ringing out. He didn’t know he could stand up to Handsome **goddamn** Jack. But he just got so **angry** when Jack blatantly ignored his daughter. “Do you really want you daughter to hate you?” Rhys smiled triumphantly as he opened his eyes with Jack’s shocked face to meet his. He smiled once more before Jack dropped him. Rhys collapsed on the ground, feeling the skin around his neck gingerly from the man-handling it had just been through. Angel immediately rushed away from her father’s side and to Rhys’, hugging him closely and burying her face into his shoulder.

            “I’m sorry, Mr. Programmer.” Angel sobbed into his shoulder and Rhys almost laughed. How was he still alive? He pulled Angel back and smiled at her.

            “I’m okay now, Angel. It’ll be fine.” Rhys was shocked. Why was he so good at this? He had never had any sisters, any female friends other than Yvette who wouldn’t let anyone treat her like this in a million years. Not to mention because of this girl, he had almost just died. But, here he was, comforting her. _What in the shit._ But he wrapped his cybernetic arm tight around her and pulled her back in for a closer hug as she let out the last of her sobs.

            Jack stood back, unimpressed with the lean programmer, tapping his foot on the ground. Maya breathed out and her tattoos dissipated, while she walked up to Jack. She smiled sarcastically at him before she socked him in the shoulder, earning her a small groan from Jack. “You deserve that.” She muttered and then sighed as she sat down on the couch next to her. “You could have really hurt her.” Maya whispered and Jack bowed his head, sighing, and the pain in his head returning.

            “What is your name, programmer?” Jack finally groaned out, collapsing on the ottoman of the couch Maya was sitting on. He glared aggressively at Rhys and then smiled sarcastically. “Well, I hope you’re not mute, twatbag. I don’t think I could do with someone who was…”

            “Rhys.” Rhys muttered and then smiled at Jack’s raised eyebrow. Angel continued to hug Rhys, gripping onto his Hyperion vest with her hands.

            “Rhys? What kind of weird ass name is that.” Jack scoffed and then stood up, trying to take control of the situation once again. “Your parents must have really hated you, kid. But whatever, you ready to talk business?” Rhys smirked at the banter between them, trying to match Jack’s moxie.

            “Well at least my first name isn’t Handsome.” Rhys snapped back at him and Jack continued to be impressed. Rhys had no idea what he was doing. He was sassing the president of his company. If he hadn’t been asking for a death wish before, he definitely was now. But thankfully, Jack finally laughed at the comment and patted the lean programmer on the shoulder.

            “I’ll take that as a yes.” Jack smirked at Rhys, looking down onto the shorter man and then grabbed his shoulder to lead him into the other room with a real table to debate upon. Angel finally let go of Rhys as Maya grabbed her hand to lead her into the other room. She looked back once before finally following the Siren, happily skipping with her as she mentioned getting her little project up and running again.

 

 

            “Wow, kid. You’ve got **some** guts, handing it to me like that.” Jack smirked as he plopped down Rhys at the table. “But since my daughter has taken a liking to you, I’ll let you live.” Jack snapped his fingers once, scaring Rhys slightly. “Even better, I’ll make you the head, and the only worker, of my vortex bullet project!” Jack smiled at Rhys’ wide eyes but then patted him on the back. “You’re not going to disappoint me kid, are you?”

            Rhys gulped. “No, sir.”

            Jack sighed. “God, don’t call me **sir,** like my fucking assistant.” He sat down roughly at the basically unused table and kicked his feet up onto the top of it. “Just call me Jack, Rhysie.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t deal with people being stiff around me. Unless it’s out of fear. Then it’s fucking hilarious.” Jack chuckled and then leaned his chair back.

            “Sure, Jack. I can do your project. How much time will I have?” Rhys was making sure he spent as little time in the line of fire of Jack as possible, getting to the point of the conversation.

            “Project comes out tomorrow.”

            Rhys choked on air. Jack looked at his quizzically and then placed his feet back under the table, leaning on the mahogany. “That’s not a problem, is it?” _He’s expendable. If he fails me, I could just kill him._ Rhys gulped once again.

            “Not at all. I’ll get started on it now.” Rhys said shakily, pushing himself up from the table. Jack watched him leave, and watched him stumble into the elevator. But the worst thing was he watched his face also turn to complete fear right as the elevator shut. The kid was terrified. And most of the time Handsome Jack would find great pleasure in this, but today he found it… unnerving.

            I mean, it would make the kid work harder, but he didn’t want his “business partner” terrified of him. Jack sat at his table and stared at the ceiling, trying to find out why the kid had been so afraid of him.

 

 

            “AGHHHH!” Vasquez screamed as he fell into a garbage heap. He really should not have pissed off a Siren, but it didn’t mean he still wasn’t furious with Rhys. That damn boy.

            Vasquez chucked some bananas peels off his new suit and groaned one more time as he clawed his way out of the Hyperion trash deposit. He needed to get revenge. He would, and if Rhys wasn’t dead already from his encounter with Handsome Jack, he would be when Vasquez was done with him.


	3. Friends are the WORST Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys is back in his own apartment. But what do his friends think of his little predicament? With only the wee hours of the morning separating him from the demonstration of the project and now, what will happen during that fateful day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry loves! This one's going to be shorter cause I'm saving the big exhibition scene for the next chapter! Sorryyyyyy! Also I might be updating later than usual because of ballet recitals coming up and 6 month projects finding there way to completion. Sorry once again!

Rhys knocked on the door, and when Vaughn answered, Yvette standing with worry behind him, he collapsed into his arms.

            “I’m doomed, Vaughn. So, so very doomed.” Rhys cried into his friend’s arms and Vaughn stood there like a statue. Yvette gasped and grabbed her friend along with Vaughn, helping him pull Rhys in a flopped him onto the shared couch in the living room. Rhys groaned and pulled his arms into his face, trying desperately not to hurt his eye with his right cybernetic arm, which happened more times than he’d like to admit with the older model having more glitches.

            Vaughn sat down nervously next to him, wringing his hands together as he started into the questions.

            “What happened, bro? That Siren lady pulled you out and then you were gone for three hours!” Vaughn’s voice shook as he pushed up his glasses, watching Yvette pull herself in closer to the pair.

            “Seriously, Rhys. You were gone for ages, where did you go?” Yvette looked at him closely, worry and also suspicion in her eyes. “Cause if you’re gone, my lunch is gone and that is something I cannot deal with.” She joked but found herself to be the only one laughing.

            “Oh boy, guys. I am officially fucked.” Rhys muttered into his hands and Vaughn placed his hand on his shoulder. “I have to complete a project for Handsome Jack, that’s due **tomorrow.** He’s going to murder me.” Rhys whispered even quieter into his hands and tried not to notice how Yvette got up and tried not to look so worried for him. But he could see it in her eyes. He was a goner. He didn’t even want to look over at Vaughn, the man’s eyes probably getting all teary from one of his longest kept friends basically telling him his death sentence. Rhys was definitely a goner. And there was nothing anyone could do about it.

            “Well… Uh, I…” Vaughn kept stuttering out words and Yvette tried to help him, only to fall into the same fate. Rhys just sighed and stood up, pushing Vaughn away from him.

            “The only thing I can do now is get to work, guys.” Rhys rubbed his eyes once again. “And hope I do a good enough job that he doesn’t find **any** reason to kill me.” Rhys stalked out of the living room and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him as he entered.

            He was going to be in for a **long** night.

 

            Granted, Rhys was one of the… okay… **the** best programmer in his department but he was still nervous. A Vortex bullet? That was ambitious, even for Handsome Jack. And as Rhys started to type away furiously on his insanely upgraded desktop keyboard, his mind started to wander to the man.

            _Why me, of all people you could have grabbed Ms. Siren why did you choose the guy who literally probably has **another** death sentence from Assquez at this point. I was already dead, why did you need to fucking overkill that shit. _

            Rhys angrily typed on his keyboard and watched as the code of C# flied across the screen. He had been programming ever since he could remember, and always had a knack for it. Programming could be so useful sometimes too. Easier than trying to smooth talk your way out of a conversation. Programming a robot to hack the sprinkler system and making it rain inside to get everyone out a room was a great way to stop an awkward conversation. Also it was better than learning how to really defend yourself. Loader bots and other personalized weapons all needed programming, and Rhys had written the code inside almost every single one of them.

            Especially his little project Loader Bot, which with one single audio command would switch over from a weapon of mass destruction to a best buddy who would fist bump you over milkshakes. Not that the Loader Bot could drink the milkshakes, it would just kind of sit on the table but close enough, right?

            Rhys snapped back into his working state of mind and groaned, the code was only done, and from a quick glance at the clock on his wall, he would have a maximum of 3 more hours until the release.

            It was 3:00 in the morning.

            He really should have been in bed, preparing to look nice for the release, with his _nice_ red tie and his _nicer_ blue shirt. But he was stuck at his computer. Being paranoid about any flaws in the code. He had heard the news. The big explosion in R &D that left around 13 people dead was hot news in Helios.

            Nobody knew what the project was that caused it, but thanks to Handsome Jack, _yeah… thanks,_ Rhys knew now. The stupid experiment had been fun for Jack and when he was questioned about it on Helios News Casting, he had not seemed the slightest bit concerned. Which just made half the company love him even more.

            Yes, it was true that Rhys did look up to the man when he arrived at Helios. His attitude for business was admirable but his attitude for murder was the one that caught him later in his career. Rhys shook the thought of blood out of his mind and he continued with the code, looking frantically for anything inside of it that could possibly throw him off of the bullet off of its projected target.

            Rhys finally heard a knock on the door and he jumped, falling out of his spinning office chair as Vaughn cautiously entered the room in his rocket pajamas.

            “You really should be getting to bed, Rhys.” Vaughn mentioned nervously and Rhys rubbed his temples on the floor, feeling the cold hardwood against his back and neck. “If the project is coming out tomorrow, you really don’t want to look like a mad scientist at the exhibition, bro.” Vaughn smiled shyly and then shut the door to Rhys’ room softly, leaving Rhys in a pile on the floor with his thoughts.

            _He’s right. I can’t be looking like I tried **very** hard to do this code. I need to show Jack that I’m confident. Or… he’ll most likely kill me. No… he’ll most **definitely** kill me. _ Rhys sighed once more and dragged himself up onto his lumpy mattress.

            “Three more hours.” He muttered to himself as he pulled his covers up over his head and tried not to hear the buzzing in his head from his ECHOeye.

 

 

            An alarm blaring awoke Rhys rudely and he groaned, trying not slam his cybernetic arm back down onto the annoying sound and break it. Which happened more than he’d like to admit. Instead, he calmly pressed against the off button and sat up, looking at the clock which calmly read, 4:00.

            An hour.

            He had slept an hour before his alarm had gone off for the presentation. Another groan and Rhys finally dragged himself out of bed and towards the bathroom. He knew he’d have another two hours before the actual exhibit, but knowing his luck he’d somehow be late and miss most of the event. He sighed and stepped into the shower, barely missing a bar of soap left of the ground by Vaughn before turning the heat up even hotter.

            He hissed as the hot water began to heat up his entire body and burn a little on the top of his back. He needed something to wake him up completely, and if one thing was for sure, this definitely would. His cybernetic arm was warning him in his ECHOeye of temperature spike but he banged his hand into his ECHOport to stop the annoying message.

            It went fuzzy for a bit before finally disappearing completely and Rhys sighed.

            _This was going to be a long day,_ he thought to himself as he ran his hands and some shampoo through his messy, wet locks.

            “Rhys! What are you doing up?” Rhys heard Vaughn’s voice pierce the air from on the other side of the door and he shook the shower curtain to convey to him that he was getting ready. Vaughn knocked back on the door which was their sign for ‘okay’ in the bathroom and walked away. Rhys sighed once more and pressed his back against the tile wall of the shower.

            _Goodbye world. Today is the day I die._ He scrubbed away the thoughts of yesterday still lingering on his body. His fingers trailed over his tattoos gingerly and sighed once more. That was another thing he’d have to keep secret for _most likely_ the rest of his life.

            Siren powers in a person were rare.

            Siren powers in a guy were even rarer.

            So, Rhys kept it hidden, trying desperately to just ignore the facts. He had never used his powers, hearing too much about how they had hurt people close to said sirens. Rhys had always been terrified of himself, but he would never admit it to anyone. So, he kept his secrets to himself, so much that not even Vaughn knew the actual nature of Rhys’ conservative dressing.

            The longer Rhys was in the shower the more and more he had to look at those _stupid_ tattoos, so he aggressively shut the shower off; not realizing he was breathing heavily until his breath was the only sound throughout the bathroom. He sighed and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his body and another to rub messily through his hair. He looked at the fogged up mirror and the little picture of Handsome Jack kept on it by Vaughn as a joke. It was crumpled up and wet because of the steam but it was still hanging onto that mirror somehow.

            Rhys almost screamed at it.

            This was all his fault.

            Maybe if he hadn’t been an idiot and didn’t actually draw his boss who was about to give him a promotion as a dick, he wouldn’t be in the clutches of Handsome Jack. And he wouldn’t be in debt to his daughter for saving his life. And he wouldn’t feel bad for being a useless ass siren if he hadn’t met Maya. Everything would have been better if he had just stopped in his tracks. Never traveled up from Pandora to Helios. He would have been better down on Pandora, where skags would have eaten him for breakfast.

            Rhys didn’t even notice when he had collapsed on the floor and was now shoved up against a wall, his knees drawn in close to his chest. His slim body was shaking and Rhys finally snapped out of his trance, wiping what he thought was water away from his eyes.

            And as he left the bathroom and quickly got dressed for the exhibition, he still refused to believe that those little droplets of water… were tears.


	4. What a Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Into the auditorium, Jack, Rhys and Maya go. Everyone has prepared for the best, but when does anything ever go according to plan in stories like these?

Jack straightened his red tie in the mirror and then smiled, watching Maya glare at him on the other side of the mirror. He chuckled as he turned to her, glancing her up and down for a second.

            She was wearing a nice red evening dress that hugged her curves, much different from the normal yellow top she wore but the color suited her much more. Jack smiled wide and she scoffed at him, her heels clicking next to him as she stormed out of the room, muttering something along the lines of, “all men are pigs.”

            Jack laughed once more and followed her out, trying not to look too much like a creepy old man this time. Granted, Jack was **not** that old. He was coming up on his mid-thirties but, that did not mean he was too old to hit on Maya. Not that he wanted to. She would have blasted his dick off if he even came close. So he kept his distance, most of the time.

            She was standing, shoulders hunched over her ECHOcom in the middle of the foyer, waiting for her boss. He snuck over to her placed his elbow on her shoulder before she aggressively threw him off, pushing him onto the ottoman next to him.

            “Ah, come on, Maya. I was going to tell you that you look very nice today.” Jack tried in his most innocent voice which made Maya snort out of her serious expression. She tried to regain her composure but upon glancing back at Jack with a begging expression she finally burst out laughing, almost falling off of her 6 inch platform stilettos.

            Jack smiled, exposing his canines as he watched the Siren grip her side while also holding onto the chair next to her for balance.

            He wasn’t lying. She did look lovely, but of course she would never take the compliment. Maya was fierce out in the open, but in private she really was hard on herself. Jack often found her in the morning collapsed on the floor of the training room next to hers, completely covered in bruises and scrapes from the automated enemies. This made Jack angry at first, but he tried his best to be understanding and helped her up for the morning. He had never seen that dark of a shade of embarrassment, so he made sure to give her enough time in the morning.

            Jack scoffed as he looked at his “assistant”. She was the one who knew the most about him, other than his…

            Jack breathed out sadly and Maya instantly looked up at him, wiping a tear from her makeup lines eye. She instantly noticed **the** expression, she had been seeing it a lot lately, and changed the subject, pulling her boss’ arm up from the couch.

            “Well, thank you, Jackaboy, but we need to get going, the exhibition is not far away.” Maya cooed at her boss and Jack snapped out of his trance, pulling himself away from Maya and straightening his black tuxedo. He put on his classic smile and started towards the elevator, trying not to think about those awful thoughts once again.

            Maya sighed and followed him, closing the elevator behind her and pushing the button to the ground level for the stage. She knew this was going to be an ugly day, even before it began.

 

 

            Rhys stumbled into the exhibition hall, his friends at his back while he strutted past all of the other workers for Hyperion. His suit was freshly ironed and his usual red tie was replaced with a nice cyan one, matching the brightness of his ECHOeye. Vaughn and Yvette tried for a more casual look, trying not to stand out in the crowd of other Hyperion workers while Rhys was ready to take credit for his expert coding.

            He saw a blur of blue hair before he felt an arm dragging him behind the curtain in front of the stage. He tried not to yelp as he was spun around to face a very angry Maya.

            “You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!” She screamed at him and Rhys pulled his face back. He grimaced as her grip got tighter and tighter along his upper arms.

            “Sorry! I was busy saying goodbye to my friends and writing my will…” Rhys joked as he opened his eyes and Maya shoved him back, her fingertips reaching for between her eyebrows. She sighed and faced him once again, Rhys finally noticing how nice she looked. She scowled after he stared for a little too long and he whistled, trying to find anywhere else to look.

            “If you did your job, hotshot, you shouldn’t **die**. _”_ She enunciated and Rhys scoffed.

            “Shouldn’t.” He smiled sadly and followed Maya as she beckoned for him to follow.

            “Yes, shouldn’t. Anyways, Engineering has already implanted the code into the weapon, but they didn’t have time to test it.”

            Rhys stopped Maya by the arm. “ **Didn’t** test it?!” He panicked. Now he was really dead. Now, he didn’t even know if it worked. If he had gotten there and Maya told him there was something wrong he could have fixed it but now… he felt his heartrate spike and his breathing get more sporadic.

            Maya gripped his arm back as he started to collapse, holding the thin boy up. “Rhys! Stay with me!” She shook him slightly and his vision stopped being fuzzy, finally focusing on the worried face of Maya. He breathed out and nodded, finally noticing that the R&D team was coming in, with the prototype weapon in their hands.

            Rhys rubbed his temples once, looked up to the sky and then started towards the team.

 

 

            Jack wrung his hands together and stepped onto the stage, feeling the lights in his eyes and the crowd cheering loudly. He smiled and bowed lightly, jaunting his way down to the center of the stage where the R&D team was already waiting. Rhys was behind them, his hands behind his back and looking especially green. Jack ignored him thought, finding he was probably just nervous from the amount of people watching his every move.

            Jack on the other hand was completely at home on the stage. He could shoot a puppy in the head on stage and his entire work force would clap enough to blow out someone’s ear drums. He smiled at the thought and continued up to the podium, assuming it was already on and immediately started talking.

            “Welcome, Hyperion!” He shouted and another cheer from the crowd made him laugh. “I have a surprise for you…” He trailed off with the ‘you’ and a few people in the front row started a drum roll on their legs while they were sitting in the exhibition hall. Jack swerved around and the R&D department immediately handed him the gun. He smirked at the size of it, weighing it in his hands before turning back to the audience with his grin on his face. The front row obviously looked impressed and Jack smiled at their shocked expressions.

            He nodded his head over in Maya’s direction on the opposite side of the stage and she nodded back, disappearing behind the curtain for only a second before conjuring a psycho on the stage.

            He was wild, jumping around on the literal human leash Maya had him on and tried to jump at the audience before Maya phaselocked him and brought him back down. She smiled as she grabbed the back of his rag shirt and pulled him close so he would stop hogging Jack’s attention. Because she knew he hated that.

            Jack nodded at her to bring him closer and she complied, dragging the psycho by his rag shirt towards the center of the stage. She shoved him finally towards Jack and he smiled, feeling the gun inside his hand whirl inside as his finger pushed further and further into the trigger. He didn’t notice Rhys walking towards him, but finally as the psycho came at Jack full force he pulled the trigger down hard.

            And the psycho kept coming.

            Jack stepped back and stared at the gun, shaking it, trying desperately to the get it to work as the R&D team slowly started to back away from the stage. He glanced back at the programmer behind him and his hair was a mess. He hadn’t notice the sheer disheveled state he was in before, but looking at him now, he realized why. The kid was trying to make a fool of him.

            He snarled and growled at the boy before the psycho behind him grabbed the neck to his shirt and yanked him back. The entire Hyperion work force thought it was some sort of planned fight, and was cheering for Jack, waiting for him to completely obliterate the damn fool. But he grunted and elbowed the psycho behind him so that he fell away from him, Jack taking a better grip on the gun and hitting it on the ground before aiming at the _thing_ on the ground.

            He laughed and screamed something about a meat bicycle before rushing at Jack once more and Jack tried once again to pull the trigger.

            This time he wasn’t so lucky. The gun shook and smoked in his hands and the psycho leaped away from the dangerous thing, **in Jack’s hands.** Rhys stepped towards Jack, instantly clicking that the core inside that combined the two chemicals was overheating. The programming had gone awry. And it was his fault.

            He saw Maya’s terrified face from across the stage as she pulled the psycho away from her boss, throwing him offstage and kicking him into oblivion from behind the curtains. Jack was now backing away from the audience, too stubborn to let go of his _shiny new toy_ but tried to find the source of the problem.

            He started frantically ripping the paneling off the side and Rhys was frozen in place, _knowing_ what would happen if he got to that core but still couldn’t command his muscles to move. Jack was more focused on chucking said core at the psycho, he just wanted that cocky mother fucker dead. Even if his gun didn’t work, he still needed that piece of shit dead, and he knew his employees would want to see it as well.

            _He’s going to fucking blow himself up._ Rhys thought to himself and for one final time, willed his legs to move forward. He finally took a step and it seemed as if the wall had been broken, running full speed now at Jack, hand outreaching.

            “Jack, don’t!” Rhys shrieked as Jack pulled the final panel from the gun and a loud tone pierced the air. Then, Jack dropped the gun.

            Everything after that seemed to move in slow motion.

            Rhys leaped at Jack and propelled himself in front of him. It was **his** fault after all. The programming had to be faulty. Even though he checked it more times than he had written his own name. But he decided, death by malfunctioning weapon was better than dead by Handsome Jack. Nothing in particular to do with Handsome Jack, just straight up death by **Handsome Jack.**     

            Jack stepped back as the boy held his arms outstretched in front of him before Jack. His eyes widened as the gun started to turn a sickly maroon color, and then the explosion happened.

            Maya ran out from behind stage, blood staining some of her fancy ball gown. Her heels clicked a few times before she leaped at the weapon as well, she couldn’t have her boss die now could she?

            Finally, all three of them seemed to be reaching for the weapon. But the thing that happened next surprised **all** of them.

            The gun flew back together. All the pieces of the gun fit perfectly back in place and it just sat there on the ground. Like it had **not** just tried to blow up. Rhys removed his hands from in front of his face and abdomen and stared at it.

            “What the shit just happened?!” Jack’s voice rang out behind him and he became rigid, **almost** forgetting that his boss was most definitely murder him aggressively after this. Maya clicked her way across the stage and snatched Rhys’ upper arm and dragged him away.

            Rhys faced her and her eyes were wild with anger. “Well, Siren boy. Are you happy now?!” She whispered aggressively and Rhys’ eyes widened. He shushed her down a bit before she threw his hands to the side. “I will not be shushed, twatbag. You are a fucking **Siren** , how dare you even…”

            The rest of the company was just as shocked but Jack started to play off of that, smiling widely and explaining to the audience what had happened, that it was all **definitely** according to plan.

            Maya continued to push her finger into Rhys’ chest, pushing him back further and further until he was practically back in front of Jack, her voice getting angrier and angrier.

            Jack finally looked over at Rhys and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, his audience quality smile a fairly creepy match with the murder in his eyes. He took a deep breath before finally glancing at the audience, then back to Rhys.

            “What just happened, programmer boy?” Jack screeched through his teeth and Rhys found himself shrinking back into his suit. Sure, his shirt was covering his tattoos, but he felt their heat surge through his body. He had never done anything with his powers, why now?

            And why of all people to save the person who was going to **murder him later**?

            Rhys cursed his Siren powers for being more fickle than a teenage girl at prom before bringing his attention back to Jack.

            He stuttered, trying to find a good excuse for almost having the most important person on Hyperion murdered before Maya stepped in, concentration in her eyes. Rhys didn’t even notice her tattoos glowing until he took a step back away from his psychopathic boss.

            “Don’t Jack, you’ll just make this worse.” Maya muttered and Jack, continuing to breath heavy, scoffed at her.

            “Why was the programming faulty, **cupcake**?” Jack enunciated with pain in his voice, obviously straining not to just wring the boy’s neck now and get it over with.

            “I… I-I don’t know, Jack… I…”

            “Sir. Call me sir, Rhys. Show some respect.”

            Now Rhys was really dead. He could even see some pity in Maya’s eyes. Well, he had a nice run, didn’t he?

            “Find a reason, princess. And why did the gun fly back together when…”

            “That was me, **sir.** ” Maya interjected and Rhys raised an eyebrow but quickly nodded to agree with her. Maya glared at Rhys before grabbing Jack’s arm, tugging at it to pull him off stage. He glared quickly back at Rhys.

            “My penthouse. Ten minutes, Rhys.” Jack growled at the programmer and he was left standing on the stage like an idiot. But he didn’t even notice the laughter coming from the other Hyperion workers, or how Jack was brainstorming how to murder him **out loud** , or how his arm was still stinging from the tattoos underneath performing some crazy shit.

            He was doomed. By his fellow coworkers, or Jack or his own idiocrasy. He was doomed.

            The only thing that snapped him out of his trance was Vaughn climbing his way, quite ungracefully, up onto the stage and shaking him. Worry filled his eyes and Rhys felt his eyes start to water at his friend. He was going to die, he had accepted that but Vaughn obviously hadn’t. He was going to leave his best friend alone on this goddamn murderous space station.

            He dragged Vaughn off stage and they both sat down in silence as they heard the rest of the work force start on their way out of the auditorium. Yvette stumbled in only a few minutes later and sat down on the other side of Rhys.

            And there they stayed, until Rhys’ ECHOcom rang with Maya’s face waiting on the other side. Rhys didn’t even bother to answer it. He stood up, looking back at his friends once more, and nodded to them.

            A goodbye.

            Not really a _good_ one, then a bye.

            Rhys could almost hear the funeral music playing in the background as he started towards the door. He dropped his ringing ECHOcom in the garbage on the way out and started towards the elevators.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHH OKAY Recital's over and my feet are in way too much pain but whatever. Thank you guys so much for the support and kind words! I didn't think I needed them at the time but wow okay I guess I did. I think I made this chapter longer than normal for your patience so THANK YOU. Once again I love hearing from you guys, since you are so kind. Now, only my six month project presentation is on my schedule, but to be honest it's already done so all I need to do is present it. LET'S GO. AND I'LL TRY NOT TO KILL ANY MAIN CHARACTERS YET SO DON'T GET ALL DEFENSIVE THAT RHYS IS GONNA DIE. WHAT WOULD BE THE FUN IN THAT XD
> 
> Also, spoiler but not really, in the beginning of this story when Maya straight up teleports Assquez (don't ask I just kind of wanted her to be too badass to handle), he was originally going to be teleported outside of the station and the end of the chapter was going to be his floating body outside xD but he is important for the continuation of the story SADLY so no dead Assquez yet.


	5. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys is not having a good day. But coincidently, neither is Maya.

The elevator door opened and Jack stormed out. Maya chased after his, heels finally off and hanging in her hands but she couldn’t catch him before he flipped the coffee table. The magazines and decorative glassware on top of it splayed out across the floor, creating a loud crash as the wood in the coffee table splintered. Maya just stopped and stepped back, watching as Jack slowly turned around, fury in his eyes.

            “That goddamn unworthy, ungrateful piece of programming **TRASH!** ” Jack screamed as he flipped the leather chair next to it, which just this morning he had been sitting on. The damn boy had made a fool of him in front of the entire work force of Hyperion, not that they cared, but Jack did. He was going to wring the kid’s neck until he begged for mercy and then he’d snap it, watching the light drain from his eyes. Jack smiled at the thought before a cough interrupted his pleasant murder thoughts.

            “Sir?” A small voice pierced the air and Jack finally focused in on the programmer who had stumbled in. His hair was in shambles, he looked like he had cried a few good times which definitely was making his ECHOeye actually _malfunction_.

            _Damn older models._

            Jack started to storm up to the boy but before he could wrap his good hand around him, Maya snagged his shirt, pulling him back.

            “Jack! Give him a _chance_ before you murder him, will you?” Maya stuttered through struggling to hold Jack back away from the terrified programmer. Rhys stood there, head bowed and obviously accepting his death. But Maya knew better.

            Ever since she saw the kid, she knew he wouldn’t screw up. She had read the reports before she came back, she knew the kid had never messed up on a project in his life. Something was off, and she wouldn’t let him die because of it. She pulled Jack back once more and he stumbled back, looking angrily at his assistant before straightening out his own suit jacket.

            “Fine.” He coughed to clear his throat. “What happened, **Rhysie.** ” Jack restrained himself and Rhys tried very hard not to cry out.

            “Uhm, I do not know sir.” Jack took a step closer and Rhys instantly panicked. “I honestly don’t know! I had checked the programming more than I could count, sir, I don’t know what went wrong!”

            “Liar! You were trying to kill me!”

            _Oh no. Not the paranoia._

            Rhys widened his eyes and help his hands up, shaking his head from side to side. “No, no, no, no, sir…”

            “You tried to kill **me!** ” Jack shouted and stepped forward finally pushing Maya away from him, causing her to fall roughly to the floor. “You tried to kill me, **boy**!” He pointed a finger at Rhys. “So, who do you work for, huh? Who’s the corporation that wants me dead more than the others…” Jack continued to approach Rhys and know they were stepping in unison, Rhys trying desperately to maintain the distance he had with his psychopathic boss.            

            Rhys’ back finally hit a wall and Jack smiled, finally wrapping his hands around the programmer’s neck so tight his knuckles were white. Rhys squirmed against the wall and noticed Maya behind Jack, really struggling to get up, a pool of blood actually next to her head. He scoffed in his head as his vision started to get blurry, what a great Siren he was. Couldn’t even protect himself, but he could definitely protect the man who was going to murder him and mount him on a wall for it.

            Maya continued trying to get up, but she started coughing and fell back to the floor, rolling on her back and covering her mouth. It looked like she had tears in her eyes, no head wounds but blood was coming out in a steady trickle down the side of her face from her mouth.

"I won't ask you another time Rhys." Jack muttered angrily as his hands started to slowly wrap tighter and tighter around Rhys' neck. "I don't want to hear anymore lies coming from your insignificant mouth." He hoisted Rhys up off the floor, the silence in air only pierced by his ragged breaths. "The truth, Rhys."

“It… was… the… t-t-truth…” Rhys struggled to speak with less and less air making its way into his lungs. Finally, right when he thought he was going to pass out, Jack dropped him, leaving Rhys’ head to hit the marble floor and Rhys seeing stars. He slowly pulled himself up from the floor, stumbling a little before he finally could lay himself in an upright position against the cabinets behind him. He coughed a few times to let out the fluid buildup in his lungs but finally opened his eyes to a pacing Jack.

He was pacing around the kitchen island next to Rhys and his hand was set firmly on his chin. He was obviously thinking thoroughly through something, _probably on what to kill me with_ , but he definitely was thinking hard. Rhys looked over at Maya and couldn’t help trying out his voice towards her.

It came out in a lame scratch as he whimpered,

“Maya…”

Jack finally turned his head towards his ~~assistant~~ friend and tried not to gasp, still desperately needing that _tough guy_ ego thing going. But Rhys could see the shock on his face from the angle he sat, more like crumpled, at. She was still laying there, an even bigger pool of blood now forming around her head and her raspy breaths mixing with the same kinds of breaths of Rhys’.

Jack rushed over, crouching down next to her to assess the damage. Upon him removing her hand, her eyes fluttered open, droplets of blood stuck to the ends of her lashes and she **smiled**. Of all the things to do when you’re bleeding internally, smiling is definitely not the most practical. Jack smiled back at her though, slipping his hand under her shoulders and pulling her up slowly. She groaned and coughed up more blood as Jack led her to the couch as quickly as he could to reduce the movement she endured. He laid her down carefully and she coughed once more before Jack plopped down next to her. Rhys almost thought he was done before Jack muttered out.

“God, kid, you’ve really done it this time.” Jack turned his head to the side, facing Rhys with a tired smirk on his face. Rhys struggled to stand but made his way over to the couch anyways.

“It **wasn’t** me.” Rhys finally said defiantly. If he was going to shoot him, he’d die knowing that he told the truth and didn’t blame anyone else.

Jack finally nodded at the programmer and sighed, pulling a blanket down from the top of the couch and covering Maya with it as she groaned, rolling from side to side.

“Okay, cupcake, it wasn’t you.” He stood up, one hand still on Maya’s squirming figure underneath the blanket. “That gun still almost blew my head off, as well as yours.” He smiled once more. “As retribution, you’re going to help me find whoever’s fault this was.” Jack sat back down next to Maya and Rhys froze, his figure stuck in hauling himself up off the floor using the kitchen island. His boss tried to contain his laughter, but finally a chuckle erupted from his lips as the shocked figure of the boy continued to stand there.

“God, Rhysie, it’s not **that** bad.” Jack looked him straight in the eye. “You’re staying with **me.** ”

_That’s what I’m afraid of._

Rhys finally unfroze and pulled himself up into sitting on the kitchen island, looking around at the band of misfits around him. Thought he was afraid if he called Jack a misfit he might **actually** blow his brains into the refrigerator behind him. Maya was down for the night, Rhys still not knowing what the hell actually happened to cause such intense internal bleeding. Jack was finished with his anger flash and his breathing was starting to calm down next to Maya, which he looked like he was now pulling the chunks of dried blood out of her hair. And it finally clicked with Rhys.

Maya was a Siren.

Angel was a Siren.

How stupid could Rhys have been. Jack kept Maya around to train his own daughter how to not almost murder people, _like I almost did with my powers._ But the look in Jack’s eyes towards Maya was unmistakably almost the same one he used towards Angel. Another _almost_ daughter. Now he was really outnumbered in his own household.

Rhys sighed and laid back on the marble countertop, still rubbing his neck from where Jack had squeezed earlier, feeling the starts of bruises on several parts of the tender skin. And then it was silent.

And the new alliance of Handsome Jack, Maya and Rhys had formed.

What an **awful** idea this was.

 

The only thing that interrupted their nice quiet afternoon? Morning?, was the fact that Angel came screaming out of her room.

“Daddy! There’s a spider in my room! I can’t get rid of itttt!” She droned on in a high pitched voice and Rhys almost laughed as Jack groaned. He stood up, Maya’s blood coating most of his hands and some splattered on his face and Angel stepped back. Her face wasn’t really worried, no, it was more fear and Jack instantly noticed. He tried desperately to wipe the blood on his suit pants but the dried substance didn’t seem to want to budge. Angel started to back away from her father and Jack tried even harder to get the stubborn blood away from his skin, to no avail. “Daddy… Where’s Maya?”

Her voice was shaky and scared and Jack stepped back for once, looking back at the couch for only a second before returning his attention to his daughter.

“She’s fine, pumpkin…” A groan from Maya at the right time seemed to seal Jack’s fate as he widened his eyes and glared in the general direction of the couch, not that Maya could see it.

“D-daddy…” Angel’s eyes started to water and her voice got even higher as she widened her eyes at the blood on her father. “Did you hurt Maya?” Now Angel’s tattoos started to glow under her casual clothes and Jack stepped back once more before trying to reason with her.

“No, no, no, honey. I would never hurt Maya… Never would I ever…” But Angel saw the guilt in his eyes.

“You **did** , didn’t you!” Angel angrily shouted at her father and Rhys noticed the same fury in her eyes as her father had only minutes ago. Rhys started up from the island and he saw Jack glance at his from out of the corner of his eye. Rhys calmly started towards Angel and her focus instantly changed to him.

“Rhys!” She cried out and her tattoos started to fade, but when Jack took another step they instantly lit up again. “Tell me my dad isn’t lying…” She whimpered at him and Rhys slowly crept up to her, kneeling down next to her and taking her hand, much to the shock of Handsome Jack. He placed it from his cybernetic arm to his flesh hand and pulled it close to him.

“Your father would never hurt anyone he cared about.” Rhys looked in her scared eyes. “Ever.”

_Okay, now this is weird. Where is this sappy shit coming from?_

Rhys heard Jack shift behind him, and Angel started away from Rhys, or more specifically, away from her father. Then he heard a small gasp coming from Jack, and more footsteps as it seems Jack backed away from his daughter. Rhys smiled at her and squeezed her hands.

“Maya is going to be fine.” Rhys smiled at her and Angel’s tattoos finally started to die down and her breathing slow. She stepped away from Rhys after kissing him on the cheek and slowly walked back to her room. Only when she was behind her bedroom door, did Rhys breathe out and collapse on the floor.

“That could have ended really badly, Jack.” Rhys growled in the general direction of Jack before he noticed he had gone. Rhys stood up and peered around, trying to find the outline of the man before finding him hunched at a table at the island. He had a large glass of what smelled like scotch and was swishing it around in his hand before taking a big swig out of the glass.

            Rhys sat down next to him, hoping he wouldn’t pull out any sort of weapon at the movement and there they sat in silence.

            Finally, the silence was broken by Jack’s voice, unnervingly and uncharacteristically quiet.

            “My own daughter fears me.”

            Rhys pulled his head up, and glanced at his boss. His face was stuck in shock. His glass was empty and sideways on the table and his hair was ratted up to all hell. He looked awful.

            He chuckled, “She **fears** me…” The chuckles turned sour as his breath caught in his throat. “What am I… going to do?”

            Rhys stayed silent until Jack looked at him and then he shrugged his shoulders. He seemed to be good with Angel without even trying, he couldn’t **teach** someone that. So he stayed silent again while Jack stood up and walked up his stairs to his California King bed.

            “Leave kid, I need to think.” Jack plopped on his beds while rubbing the butts of his hands into his eye sockets. Rhys knew better than to object so he calmly started to stroll away from the room. “Be back at 5 in the morning sharp, cupcake. We have work to do.” Rhys heard as he shut the door behind him and it echoed through his head as he stumbled back to his own small apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD I APOLOGIZE FOR THE EXTREMELY LATE CHAPTER OMFG I have had art finals due for the longest time and I relapsed into my harry potter trash phase omg please forgive me xD. I do hope you guys enjoy this one, I wrote the beginning way before the end, like with a week in between the two so if it's choppy I'm sorry... Once again your guys' comments give me life! Thank you so much for reading, enjoy!


	6. The Lack of Sleep Is Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys, battered and beaten, stumbled home in hopes to get a good nights rest with his first day of "work" tomorrow. But, let's be honest. When does anything ever go right for our tired protagonist?

Rhys flopped onto his small apartment bed and pressed his face into the pillow. Then he screamed. For what seemed like an eternity. What could possibly go wrong.

            He chuckled once.

            _Oh, there’s a whole HELL OF A LOT that could go wrong._

            “Well, you aren’t dead.” Vaughn’s nervous voice pierced the silence as Rhys picked his head back up from his bed. His roommate was shifting nervously from one foot to the other in front of him. Rhys didn’t even have to say anything. Both of them knew it would be merciful for Jack to kill him after that **catastrophe**.

            That’s why Rhys was still here.

            He was trying to torture him.

            “Yvette already is at work; she assumes you’re dead. You should stop by and tell her…”

            “No.” Rhys ran his hands through his awfully ratted hair. He looked sadly up at Vaughn and smiled at his friend for what he assumed would be the last time. Damn, he’d been doing that a lot lately. Vaughn looked confused back at him. “She’s your friend, Rhys and so am I. So as your **friend** please stop by your friend and don’t lie to her…”

            Vaughn retorted back with a little bite in his voice. Rhys cringed at it and looked at the wall.

            “Vaughn. I’m going to be working for Handsome Jack. Maybe Yvette should remember me as the programmer she knew and not the sellout who was about to become the CEO’s bitch.” Rhys pressed his face back into the pillow and sighed as he felt a compression in the bed next to him. Sitting down as softly as possible, Vaughn took off his glasses and started to polish them, still talking sadly to Rhys.

            “I’m serious, Rhys.” Rhys could have sworn he heard him sniffle. “She is deathly worried about you. And so am I. And he didn’t kill you. That’s good! You aren’t a sellout; he was just feeling… nice! However weird that sounds…” Rhys flipped himself over and breathed out with his hands on his face.

            “He wasn’t being nice. Please tell her yourself, Vaughn. I need to get some sleep so I am not late for my first day at work…”

            “Work?” Vaughn inquired further, pushing himself closer to his friend. His face finally dropped. “You’re kidding.” Vaughn stood up and clutched his hand to his chest as he tried to comprehend was Rhys was implying.

            “I am not, sadly. I am officially a slave.” Rhys felt like he should be crying. Should be letting out all of his feelings in front of his friend, but at this point there were no tears left to cry. He had already almost died this morning and he had almost died again when Angel lost control of her powers. “So please, Vaughn, I love that you’re concerned for me but… please leave.” Rhys let down his hands in defeat. He couldn’t even look at his friend, but he felt the betrayed look painted across his face in the air.

But Vaughn didn’t even find the words to respond. He started to stomp away. Rhys could only hear him muttering phrases along the lines of, “all I do is for you… how could you just give up… you better not die you son of a…”

And those were the words that Rhys fell asleep to. The betrayed whispers of his best friend.

 

 

            Rhys’ awakening was not the best. His alarm didn’t go off but Rhys could feel a presence in his room that wasn’t usually there. So he yawned, started to open his eyes and sit up slowly. And finally as his crusted eyes made their way around the room they stopped on a figure and Rhys jumped. Handsome Jack was sitting at his desk, on his ECHOcom with his legs crossed. Waiting for Rhys.

            “Sir?” Jack coughed impatiently and Rhys shook his head. Guess they were back to the first name basis. “Jack?”

            “Yeah, cupcake?” Jack muttered as if it was completely normal to show up in your worker’s personal home at, Rhys looked at the electronic clock next to him, 3:30 in the morning.

            Rhys shrugged at him sarcastically and laughed a bit in his early morning delirium. “What are you doing here?!”

            “I couldn’t wait to see you and your stupid surprised face.” Rhys poised his face in complete wonder. “See, there it is!” Jack laughed at Rhys as he rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to stop the expression. “Anyways, Rhysie, baby we need to get going!” Jack stood up quickly and started towards Rhys, grabbing his elbow and dragging him out of his bed. Rhys attacked the ground with his face and groaned as Jack let go, getting impatient with his new secretary. “Get up…” Jack pouted like a small child.

            “Give me a second please…” The sarcasm in Rhys’ voice was so thick you could almost feel it in the air. He pulled himself off the floor and Jack’s early morning smile was kind of freaking him out. “Jesus when did you go to bed to be this awake?” Rhys asked as he followed his new boss out of his apartment door.

            “I got tons of sleep!” He chuckled as he paraded down the hallway to the elevator and then laughed even harder. “And by tons of sleep I mean I DIDN’T GET A WINK OF SLEEP I’VE BEEN UP ALL NIGHT FUCKER!” Jack yelled at the top of his lungs, laughing maniacally as he closed the elevator door behind both him and a grumpy Rhys.

            _This is not a good start to a new job._

 

They reached Jack's penthouse soon enough, a very grumpy Maya there to greet them, holding an ice pack to her head and drinking coffee aggressively. Jack only nodded in her direction and she grunted as she left to the back room. She was still apparently very mad at Jack, but by his sleepy delirium induced face, he did not care in the slightest. Jack led Rhys over to the island in the center of the kitchen and sat him down, sitting across from him and his dreamy smile finally dropping. He leaned in closer to Rhys, his voice barely a whisper.

“Should I be concer…” Jack shushed him quickly and motioned for him to keep his voice down.

“Okay, Rhysie. I need your help.” Rhys nodded his head quickly, the lack of a good night’s rest leaving him almost instantly. “I need you…” He leaned in even more. “To help me make some pastries.”

Rhys stopped in his tracks. And then sighed and pinched the inside corners of the bridge of his nose. _Well, let’s humor him._

            “Why.” Rhys spoke through gritted teeth. He thought he was still going to be executed this morning for God’s sake, he had the right to be annoyed.

            Jack started to plea. “Because I promised Angel I’d make them because her moth…” Jack coughed and corrected himself, “because Maya always makes them and she’s out for the day.”

            “She looks fine?” Rhys tried to argue but Jack just laughed and looked at the door she disappeared behind.

            “Ha… Yeah, she hates my guts right now. It’s not a good time to ask for favors.” Jack glared at Rhys and he finally caved in. “And I’m assuming you can cook cause you seem extremely alone.” Rhys slammed his hand on the island and Jack shushed him once more. _There is literally no use arguing with this man._

            “Give me a second then.” Sighing, Rhys pulled up a few recipes in his ECHOeye vision and started to work, asking Jack every once in a while where the flour or sugar was.

            Somewhere in the baking process when flour was flying everywhere and Rhys almost burned himself when his tiredness returned, Jack started to play some music to Rhys’ surprise. It was calming and he recognized it as one of the music stations of Hyperion that everyone made fun of. There were multiple debates throughout the programming department about why it was still running. It was full of old music, big bang style, full of odd names like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and The Ink Spots. But of all the times Rhys had dissed the station, he had never actually taken a listen longer than a minute or so. And the more and more the station played while he worked, the more and more he found himself actually **liking** it.

            _What a change of events._

           

            In no time at all, Rhys was tugging on Jack’s crumpled morning shirt to try to get him to look up from the work he was completing. It might have taken longer than it probably should have, but the amazed face that washed over Jack was **almost** worth the waking up in the middle of the night.

            Almost.

            The clock on the wall rang throughout the kitchen and read 8:00, which meant Rhys had been making pastries for Handsome Jack for three hours. _What a fucking start to a job._

            Jack started around the table of sweets, smelling the freshly baked goods and smiling, a sense of wonder and yet sadness in his eyes. It wasn’t Rhys’ job to question whatever the **hell** that was, so he ignored it and sat down at the island.

            Almost as if cued by a teleprompter, Rhys heard a small yawn and Angel hopped up onto an island chair next to him. And Rhys could probably tell that they had the same expression on their faces.

            She seemed surprised when she finally looked over at Rhys and jumped a little, but giggled afterwards as smiles spread on both of their faces.

            “Well good morning to you too!” Rhys cooed and Angel giggled even more as her morning tiredness wore off and she looked at her father in front of the army of baked goods. Squealing in delight, she hopped off the stood and rushed to her father’s leg, clutching it with a smile that made it all worth it.

            Rhys started to see black spots surrounding his vision as Jack and his daughter laughed over their breakfast and soon enough he found his head pressed flat against the island in a deep sleep.

            “You’re the best, dad! These are almost as good as…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY. JESUS I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE SORRY. JUST KNOW THAT I HAVE HAD THE WORST FEW MONTHS OF MY LIFE AND WRITING THIS TODAY HAS BEEN THE ONLY THING SAVING MY FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL. Jesus I am so sorry guys, I will make sure to update this regularly-ish now and try my best to continue with this story. I have gained many more fandoms in the time I took a break, so if some information is inaccurate I am so sorry because I might have pushed some information out to make room for some new fandoms! But thank you guys for sticking with me and my shit, you guys are the best.


	7. Black Tie Event?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No more privacy for Rhysie. Honestly, how long did he think it would last.

Rhys woke up groggy, disoriented and incredibly **incredibly warm**. He started to shrug off the pressure he felt upon his shoulders but that just seemed to transfer the pressure to other parts around him. He felt like he was being suffocated, struggling in each direction and trying desperately to get away from his invisible assailant. Rhys continued to squirm before he felt a shake coming from his shoulder.

            “Rhys! Wake up!” A childish voice called out before Rhys fell off of whatever he was laying on and instantly woke up. Angel’s confused face greeted him in the floor, “what are you doing on the floor?”

            “I fell off the,” Rhys glanced back to where he once was, “the **couch**.” He stated, finally knowing where the hell he had been.” _Why the fuck was I on the couch?!_

            “What did you fall off for?” Angel chuckled as she pushed her face closer to Rhys’, questioning him like a bad cop.

            “I didn’t do it on purpose!” Rhys whined back and chuckled with her, unraveling his arms from the blanket where they were trapped. _So, that’s what that was. Damn blanket. Trying to kill me._ Arms flailing with disregard to anyone’s safety, Rhys threw the blanket off of him and stood up regrettably, bones cracking as he went. Angel wrinkled her nose at the sound, but dashed back into the kitchen and Rhys followed her.

            Jack was moseying around the island, cleaning up the pans and splotches of flour that Rhys threw around the kitchen. It was a funny sight, Handsome Jack, the CEO of the company that Rhys had worked for his entire life, cleaning the mess that **he** had made. It honestly felt very… powerful. Until Jack noticed he was standing there and snapped his fingers, once. Rhys stood still. Jack did it once again, death glaring Rhys and he finally took the hint.

            Stumbling wildly, Rhys stood at attention next to Jack and he groaned, pulling his employees arm down from next to his cranium.

            “Okay, cupcake. That was the first test.” Jack smiled as he continued to wipe down the flour infected island as Rhys nervously stood next to him. “I won’t be this nice from now on, got it?” Turning slowly, the smile he shot Rhys was enough to melt anyone’s hope of an easy job. Rhys only nodded though, finding Angel doing laps around the island defusing the situation only slightly.

            She was giggling the background and Jack finally had to break his intense stare when she slipped and fell, only making her laugh harder. Rhys tried to stifle a laugh, which ended up sounding like a dying pig, and Jack did the same, straightening up and throwing the dirty rag in the general direction of the laundry shoot immediately afterwards.

            He swished his hands together and picked Angel up off the floor, placing her gently on the island so she could sit and swing her legs. “Okay, Rhysie. Tell me you have a suit, better than this one.” Jack gestured Rhys up and down and he nodded, _so that one in the back of my closet that I **never** wear. Got it. _ “Excellent,” Jack started to type away on his ECHOcom, “I’m having all of your clothes and belongings transferred up here.”

            “What?” Rhys interrupted before he could stop himself. Jack smiled and retorted with voice sweet as silk.

            “Well I can’t have my best worker leaving my sight, **can I**?” Jack blinked his eyelashes and Rhys stifled a gasp. _He might be going too far now._ But he knew he had no other choice so he sadly nodded his head in agreement. “Your suit will be up here in…” A clank of the door opening ended the question, “now. And the room you will be staying in is right this way.” He gestured grandly with his hands and strolled over to a small door in the wall next to Angel’s room. Rhys raised a quizzical eyebrow then deemed it too dangerous to even question Jack’s methods at this moment. “Be back out here in ten minutes will ya, cupcake? We got fish to fry.” He sighed and started towards the door as an assistant of Jack’s whisked past him with every single belonging of his in his arms. The pile was quite large and Rhys cringed as he stumbled through the small door and knocked an item off the top of the pile.

            Feet turning, Rhys tried to state something to Jack but had found that he had already lost interest, probably expecting Rhys to move in **immediately**. Sighing once again, Rhys grumbled back around and snatched up the item the terrified assistant had dropped in his rush to get away from his feared CEO. Weighing it in his hands as he shuffled through the doorframe, Rhys found it was a cheesy snow globe Vaughn had given him as a gag gift for one of his birthdays. It showed Pandora and all its glory. Skags chasing bandits about and psychos chasing after the skags. _What a lovely place._ Rhys rolled his eyes and finally found the humor to chuckle a little while he placed the snow globe on the first table he found.

            The room was more spacious than Rhys first thought it would be. It had a generous sized bed, a small living space next to that with a comfy looking armchair, a large and organized desk, and a little storage area next to that. No kitchenette or anything, so Rhys would **have** to leave his room to get his nutrients. He sighed at this and almost stumbled over the assistant who was trying to bolt out of the room as fast as possible.

            “Uh… thanks?!” Rhys tried to call out to him as he sprinted out of the room and by the slam of the door, out of the larger apartment. He didn’t even catch what the assistant looked like, but he was efficient. Rhys turned around to find that the small man had already placed his clothing in the closet, hanging all of the clothes neatly and sorted by color. His more casual clothes were placed gingerly inside the dresser next to this, sorted by color and type once again. Rhys scoffed, impressed, and started towards the closet, trying to find his suit he had conversed about earlier, only to find it, already ironed and laying neatly on his bed.

            He almost burst out laughing, he had never been this pampered in his **life**. _Is this what it feels like to be Handsome Jack?_ Rhys chuckled once again before realizing it **had** to be what Jack felt like. So much power.

Rhys shivered and tried to get rid of the thought, scared on the inside of how much he liked the feeling of it. He was disgusted with himself all over again.

            Shaking his head in an attempt to physically throw the thought away, he came back to reality and realized Jack was still probably waiting for him outside. He jumped and quickly started to strip down, trying not to look at the stupid tattoos that got him into this mess in the first place. They were pretty far up on his arms, so he could roll up his sleeves, but not too far, since they would peek out of his cuffs if he rolled them up to his elbows.

            He quickly glanced at the door and the lock, making sure it was bolted tight and breathed out a sigh of relief as it appeared to be. Rhys pulled his shirt over his head and breathed out as he prepared to zip himself in this incredibly uncomfortable suit. It always seemed too tight.

            But as he started to cloak himself in the fabric he found it less tight, less itchy and **way** more comfortable then usually. Ringing his tie around his neck, he began to be more confused as the black tie attire began to form nicely around his body. Then it hit Rhys.

            This wasn’t his suit.

            _Makes sense…_ Rhys chuckled as he didn’t even notice this major fact. Same brand, same color, but it fit so much better almost as if it was…

            “Custom made?” Rhys heard a female voice pierce through the air, and he panicked, picking up his jacket to cover the only siren tattoo visible on the lower half of his neck. But soon relaxed when he saw it was Maya, the ice pack gone from her head and now enjoying a red lollipop. “I guessed on the measurements from the suit they had brought up earlier. Seemed a bit too small for you. Didn’t cover enough,” she gestured with her head as she continued to lean on the doorframe, “skin.” She smiled at him and Rhys sighed in relief and was starting thank her when it hit him.

            “Hey, how did you get in here?” Maya smiled and held up a pair of keys.

            “You didn’t think you’d have actual **privacy** when you live here, did you?” Maya chuckled and Rhys flushed and started to push past her, but she stopped him. “Hey, I’m on your side okay? Need anything, blow off some steam, I’m here.” She smiled and flashed her tattoos once and then vanished, quickly jogging to the other side of the room and completely ignoring a greeting from Jack. He deflated as Rhys stepped out of the room after Maya but instantly perked up as his eyes hit Rhys’ new outfit.

            “Rhysie! Baby!” Jack shouted and opened his arms wide. “So there are some muscles under those baggie clothes!” Jack rushed up to Rhys and gestured for him to spin around. Rhys awkwardly tried to twirl around and Jack continued with his elevator eyes.

            “Perfect if I do say so myself!” Jack winked at Rhys and sweeped Angel off of the floor and up onto his hip. “What do you think, baby girl?”

            Angel laughed and looked at Rhys, standing awkwardly in front of the pair. “He looks great, daddy!” She giggled a bit more and jumped out of his arms, running towards the couch before plopping herself down. Rhys’ attention was drawn back to Jack as he slid himself up to sit on the kitchen island.

            “Not bad at all…” He muttered to himself and Rhys continued to flush, he was not used to being stared at for this long. Jack finally snapped back to reality and started again.

            “Well fitted, Rhysie. We have a meeting to get to sadly.” Jack hopped off the granite and patted Rhys as the shoulder and skipped towards the door. Rhys was frozen in place.

            “Well… Let’s get killin’ cupcake!” Jack shouted and it seemed to reel Rhys in as they both exited the apartment into the elevator for the meeting.

            And Jack couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Rhys. Thank god Maya had left her makeup in his room so Rhys could cover up that **damn** tattoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HEY THIS TOOK FOREVER CAUSE WRITER'S BLOCK ONCE AGAIN I AM SORRY but hey idk I'd like to hear from you guys about what you want to see in this story so like Kik me xD TheSteampunker I'm pretty sure?????? but like please I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. So, enjoy this and uhm, ye.


	8. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What come up must come down...

Rhys didn’t know what had happened in the small amount of time the meeting had run for, but it certainly changed something.

            Jack stepped out of the elevator back into the apartment first, clapping his hands wildly like a small child and jumping around. Rhys stepped out after him, hands massaging his temples as he took in the sight that was Handsome Jack in front of him. He was almost **covered** in blood and one of the only things pristine on his body was his smile, white, blinding and perfectly held in place. He looked like he was stuck in all honesty.

            Flopping his hands down at his sides, Rhys started to push Jack in the direction of his master bathroom to take a shower. He ground his heels into the ground as Rhys pushed his entire body weight into him.

            “You need to stop doing this Jack!” Jack only chuckled in response. “Your daughter is in the next room and I’m sure she’s not quite happy to see you drenched in someone else’s blood…” Rhys muttered afterwards and Jack finally spun back around, gripping Rhys by his shoulders.

            His face was ridden with panic, “You’re right!” He exclaimed before bolting into the bathroom, well trying at least. In his panic, he ran into the wall **next** to the door, stumbled back a few feet before gaining his senses again and pushing his way through the actual door.

            Rhys sighed again and flopped down onto the couch, wiping the blood for Jack’s suit on a napkin on the coffee table, but it was stubborn enough that it stained his hands anyways. Before Rhys knew it, he felt another compression in the couch next to him and glanced over to find a tired Angel crouching next to him.

            Chuckling softly, he tapped her a bit before leaning his head in closer to hers. “What’s up, cupcake?” Angel was clutching both her plushies of Clap Trap and Butt Stallion before silently turning to Rhys’ happy face with one of worry. She fidgeted with her fingers and toys before finally almost whispering to Rhys.

            “Why does Daddy kill people?”

            _Oh._

_That’s where this day is going._

Rhys patted her shoulders once more before hearing a sniffle coming from her direction and deciding pulling her in for a hug was the best approach here. She sniffled into his shoulder and Rhys held her tighter, trying to almost silence the sound of her sadness. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she continued to sob into his shoulder and Rhys tried to think of an answer to the literal **unanswerable** question. Even after she stopped whimpering, Angel stayed in his arms and they sat in silence for a while, with only the sound of the occasional sniffle and the running shower in the background to comfort them. Rhys grabbed the plushies behind Angel, which she had discarded as soon as she had grabbed him and smashed them in between the two, giving them a chance to partake in the hug as well. The small girl laughed at this and then pulled Butt Stallion from his place and placed him gingerly underneath her arm before giving him a light peck on the top of his head. Rhys smiled at this, and placed Angel back down next to him on the couch, putting the remaining plushie under his own arm and glancing down at it every once in a while.

            By this time, the shower had stopped and nothing could be heard throughout the entire apartment. Angel was cuddling her plushie and Rhys was just finally… **relaxing**. He felt the tension in his neck and shoulders melt down into the expensive suede of the couch and closed his eyes. His brain, swarming with unhealthy thoughts, started to purge a few at a time, leaving them to drift away in the dimly lit air of the apartment. Finally, he let out a deep breath and found himself… smiling. Actually. Smiling.

            He was finally having some peace and quiet.

            Well.

            For a short while.

            He heard Jack grunt once and then Rhys felt a **huge** impact on his legs. He grimaced as he opened his eyes, the thoughts and tensions flooding back into his head. It was Jack. Laying on the couch and in turn, half on him.

            “Uhm…” Rhys started, not quite knowing what to say as Jack started to make himself comfortable on his legs, behavior almost cat-like, “I hope my legs are comfortable for you?” He snapped the last phrase and Jack finally noticed once Angel chuckled, that this was **not** the couch he was laying on. But shrugged his shoulders, ran his hands through his still wet hair and laid back down on Rhys’ lap.

            “You have no idea, pumpkin.” He smiled as he pressed the back of his head into Rhys’ quads and chuckled a little as his roommate squirmed.

            Rhys, trying not to upset his boss by telling him to kindly, **fuck off,** tried to interject again.

            “Jack…” He chuckled nervously, “your hair is soaking wet, and on my new suit…” As he said this, Jack proceeded to shove his head harder into Rhys’ legs and **shake** like a fucking dog, soaking Angel, Rhys and Jack all over again. After a moment of silence from the pure shock of how much water managed to vacate from the **damp** hair, they all burst out laughing.

            Angel was giggling, trying very hard not to fall off the couch from the strong chuckles. Jack was almost crying, his laugh loud and full of gusto and was clutching his stomach for dear life, his abdominal muscles screaming in protest. And finally, Rhys was trying desperately not to laugh, but couldn’t help himself and was pounding the couch next to him with his free hands, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes. The entire fiasco was a riot, everyone trying desperately not to either fall off the couch or pass out from lack of oxygen.

            Jack finally fell off first and just kind of stayed there, gripping Rhys’ ankle, almost as if to check that this was all _real_. Angel pressed her forehead into Rhys’ shoulder and he felt her continue to laugh and shake.

            Rhys didn’t manage to compute in his head how long they had been laughing, but he did know when Maya came in with a bag full of groceries and a very confused look on her face, they all began laughing even **harder** (if that was even possible). She just kind of shrugged and continued to the kitchen and away from the couch of lunatics that were resting in front of her. It seemed like an eternity later that the laughter finally started to die down, and Rhys had noticed that Angel had tuckered herself out from all of the excitement. She had fallen asleep with all of that noise next to her what seemed like, from the drool threatening to dribble onto her cheek, a while ago. Rhys pulled his ankle away from Jack and he heard a little groan of protest before picking up Angel in his arms, trying not to disturb her as best as possible. Raising his head up lazily, Jack finally took a look around and saw Rhys escorting his pride and joy to her bedroom for the night. As much as Jack loved seeing his daughter happy, he couldn’t help but feel… _jealous?_ Was it?

He shook the thought out of his head and reground himself. _I am Handsome Jack._ He tugged on the flaps of his loose jacket once to straighten them. _I shouldn’t be jealous of ANYONE. I have the best life on Helios and… And…_ The more he stared at Rhys carrying his daughter away from him the more he felt helpless to stop him. Instead he flopped down on the couch, the joyful air to the apartment gone in one action.

            Maya was obviously cooking something. Standing slowly, Jack tried to ignore the figures entering his daughters room and started towards the kitchen.

            “Hey.” Jack started as he slumped down at the kitchen island while Maya kept her back to him, stirring something in a pot on the stove. “I thought we could talk?” Jack smiled at her. He was a powerful man yes, but against Maya he was nothing, and both of them knew it.

            “Just say it and this painful conversation can be short.” She muttered and Jack bowed his head.

            Deep breath.

            “I’m sorry.”

            He could almost see her smiling from ear to ear as she proved him wrong. Again.

            “Good. Well, good afternoon Jack! Too bad I’m cooking your least favorite food still.” She stated sarcastically and Jack let out a chuckle.

            _There’s always a catch._

            And as they continued to talk, Jack almost forgot about his “secretary” taking better care of his daughter then he could ever dream of. He could try his best, but, it seemed Rhys and Angel connected on a level that was deeper than **fatherly** love. Jack almost slammed his hand down on the island in frustration. He instead ran it angrily through his hair and tried to forget again. And he almost succeeded.

            Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... I'm sorry. Again. Volunteer work got me held up... who am I kidding I just keep throwing excuses at you guys (I'm not lying but still...) I am sorry about the slow rate this story is being updated but AP Art keeps gaining my interest. Since my creativity switches between being able to write and being able to draw (well), the times these are updated really depends on which way the creativity crumbles that day/week/month. I am sorry but I feel like I'm lying when I say I could update this A LOT sooner than I've been doing. I'm going to try my best but I cannot keep any promises and for this I am really sorry. Please enjoy the story and if you have any questions/comments/concerns, please feel free to comment and ask!


	9. Things Were Going So Well...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hah, you thought this story wasn't going to be filled with pain and suffering? Think again!

Rhys dropped Angel off softly into her **bright** cyan bedsheets. The fact that the entire room was this same color was giving Rhys a slight headache, and he rubbed his temples and laughed as she instinctively grabbed a plushie next to her and rolled over on the mattress. Sighing softly, Rhys squatted down next to the bedframe and petted her hair slowly, feeling some sort of _fatherly instinct?..._ overtake him. Scoffing quietly, Angel turned her back to him and Rhys took that as his chance to leave. Rhys turned around and snuck out the door, shutting it softly to rejoin the rest of the band of misfits at the kitchen island.

            Jack had his hands holding up his head and Maya was slowly stirring something on the stove, both of them silent in the marble landscaping. Rhys plopped down next to Jack on another barstool and flopped his arms up on the countertop.

            “She didn’t eat dinner.” This phrase made Jack grip his hair tighter and Rhys scooted himself a little closer. Finally slamming his hands down on the countertop, Jack cocked his head sarcastically at Rhys.

            “No Rhys, I definitely didn’t notice my own daughter going to bed before the whatever the hell **that** is,” he gestured to the pot Maya was stirring, “was on the table.” He then slammed his head down on the countertop over his hands. “Yes I fucking know assface. She’ll get up if she’s hungry, like she always does.”

            “But she won’t be.”

            “And why is that, Rhysie?” Jack smiled wildly at him and Rhys only pointed to the other side of the kitchen.

            “Because there are enough candy wrappers over there to fill four small children stomachs and considering Maya looks disgusted at the existence of candy, I cannot see you eating Laughy Taffy and I didn’t even know we **had** candy in this house, I believe the culprit is your daughter.” Jack then inched very close to Rhys’ face.

            “How would you know? You just got here. Why do you think you know my daughter better than I do?”

            “Because she trusts me more!”

            “Bullshit! My daughter is **MY** daughter, so stop acting like she’s your family and I’m not even here!” Both men got up from their chairs and started to point fingers and increase to shouting volume. Maya just simply stood at the stove and continued to stir her… okay, even I didn’t know what it was… Gumbo? Chili? No, definitely not chili…

            “I’m not acting like she’s mine… I’m just stating the truth! Your daughter doesn’t trust you anymore!”

            “You don’t know that!” Jack started to get hysterical at this point, backing away from the argument, switching his gaze from Rhys to Angel’s door and back again. Rhys didn’t notice, but Jack was starting to grip his torso abnormally tight.

            “But I do Jack! You wanted me to help you? She is AFRAID OF YOU!” Rhys shrieked at Jack and both of their eyes widened. Maya finally stopped stirring her mystery meal and turned around, eyes calm at both of them, even though the tension in the air was thick enough to swim in.

            Finally, for a few moments, the only sound in the air was the erratic breathing of Jack. And Rhys believed that the argument was over.

           

            Then he had the cold steel of a gun pressed against the center of his forehead.

            “Jack…” Rhys raised his hands up to his shoulders and Jack pressed the barrel of the gun further into Rhys’ forehead. He grimaced. “You know I wasn’t trying to…”

            “SHUT UP!” Jack shouted in his face and started to laugh. “You believe I care what you think?” Laughing hysterically, Jack looked around the side of his gun and made sure to make eye contact with the terrified Rhys.

            _Hey, Siren powers, I don’t know but this might be a great time to save me or something. Just a suggestion_.

            Rhys could see behind Jack that Maya was already winding herself up, tattoos glowing and a combination look of annoyance and worry arising quickly. Jack tilted his head and pushed the gun so hard that Rhys collapsed to his knees and glanced up at his power junky boss. The room fell silent.

 

            “She’s my daughter…” Jack finally lowered the gun, staring into his worker’s eyes and seeing just fear. As well as his ECHOeye beeping that if he kept his heartrate at what it was now, he would soon endure a heart attack. “And I’m the worst father ever…” He threw the gun on the couch next to him and stumbled up the stairs to his own room, leaving Rhys confused on the ground and Maya probably ready to rip someone in half.

            They both could hear Jack start screaming or shouting or… They honestly could not care as long as it didn’t end in either of them dead. But as Maya helped Rhys up, they were more concerned about another small problem.

            Angel was standing in the doorway to her room, clutching her plushie close to her and obviously trying very hard not to cry. **Very** hard. Immediately walking over to her and embracing her in a warm hug, Maya tried to hold her head on her shoulder but Angel started to sob too hard. Rhys stood there, squatting next to the crying child and not quite sure what to say.

            “I… didn’t mean… to make d-d-daddy… upset…” She whimpered through her sobs and clutched Maya’s clothes tighter as Maya continued to stay silent. Rhys placed his hand gingerly on Angel’s shoulder and pressed his forehead on top. And there they stay.

 

            Jack lay angrily against his bed upstairs. His room was trashed. The red menace had come in and ripped up his thoughts again, not to mention his room. Expensive pieces of artwork lay broken into pieces on the ground and broken glass littered the floor in most places. He pushed himself away from the edge of the bed and laid spread eagle on the bed. Gripping the sheets in his hands, he pulled them closer, ruining the perfect folds of the comforter while trying to hide himself.

            He didn’t want to believe what Rhys had said, but the more he mulled it over, the more he realized in all honesty he was probably right.

            He was trying his best, but killing people near his daughter and running a cutthroat business was not getting him any brownie points in the father category. Rubbing his eyes sockets with the butt of his palms, Jack sighed and pushed the comforter back again to try and get some air. The pale light from the glow of Pandora came in through the windows and Jack smiled gently as he watched it project ever changing patterns onto the floor. He backed himself up on the bed and found the metal frame behind him, frigid and unfriendly. His head found the top of the frame and he pressed into it, feeling the cooling steel on the back of his neck. It was something he did often whenever he felt stressed, and now was definitely one of those times.        

            Before Jack knew it, the light had died away and Maya was pulling the comforter over his legs. He continued to pretend as if he was asleep, but the more Maya continued to pity him, the harder it got. She finally left after a muttered, “idiot…”, and Jack opened his eyes. The night was dark and the blinds were drawn, the light no longer lingering on the tile flooring. Jack felt his joints complain when moving and his neck stiffen from the awkward positioning. He crawled the rest of his body under the comforter and tried to close his eyes.

            After a few minutes of failure, he finally opened them and stared at the ceiling. The fan ran around its loop in perfect speed, and the repetition seemed to hypnotize Jack **finally** into a state of sleepiness. That, or nausea.

            He closed his eyes and felt himself drift away to the soft confines of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Another chapter down. This one is SLIGHTLY shorter than the others so I apologize about that, but thank you all for waiting for it. Yesterday was my birthday, and coincidentally the day that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them got released for early admission at theaters. So, OF COURSE, I had to go... and I HIGHLY recommend it! It's actually the reason I continued to write this today, the inspiration from the movie was ENORMOUS. Once again, thank you guys for waiting for this chapter and I hope to continue writing the next one very soon!
> 
> ~Scarlett


	10. Startled - The Author's a Huge Asshole Edition!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can't sulk forever. Maya would like to disagree but he definitely cannot. Can he? Well, he IS Handsome Jack, he does what he wants in all honesty.

“He was about to kill you, ya know?” Maya whispered as she walked past, patting Rhys on the shoulder and plopping on the couch next to him. “I don’t know what made him stop. Normally your brains would be **all** over the floor and…”

            Rhys stopped her mid-sentence with a hand on her arm and went back to rubbing his face with his hands. He **was** almost dead. Like, REALLY DEAD. Angel was back in bed, scared shitless of her own father, Maya was desperately trying to make sure she didn’t have to clean anyone’s guts off the floor and from the shattering of items he heard earlier, Jack had trashed his room and was now sleeping soundly inside of the trash heap. What a dysfunctional family this was.

            _Where do I fit into this equation?_ Rhys pondered as he let his head roll back onto the base of the couch and closed his eyes. He was the guy who had messed up Jack’s weapon expo, his new secretary, the Siren who’s powers never worked when they needed to and the man who was slowly stealing away Angel’s trust. _Well… It doesn’t sound good if you put it like that…_

            “I don’t know why either.” Rhys finally stated in the silence, head still lolled back on the couch. He opened his eyes and saw that Maya had joined him, keeping her head perfectly still on the worn cushions on the back of the couch.

            “Well, whatever it is…” She started, pulling her head up slowly as if it pained her to do so, “you better consider yourself lucky. Not to mention now you have a lot of apology favors you owe him. So… you better hope you find the saboteur soon, or else he might just lose interest and…”

            Rhys shushed her once again and slowly removed himself from the couch. He groaned as the tiredness of the past few days washed over him like a tidal wave and he almost fell right back into the cushions. He cracked his knuckles, winced because that was a lot less badass and a lot more painful than he thought it would be, and continued towards the staircase.

            “Where are you going? Do you have a death wish? Let him sulk for a few days, he’ll be fine.”

            “I don’t think I have a life span of a few more days, Maya.” She scoffed at his ignorance and went back to curling herself into the soft couch. Those two were going to be the death of her.

 

            Rhys made it up the stairs soon enough, and could only stare as Jack was sound asleep in his bed. The room was trashed. Rhys delicately tip-toed around the shards of broken glass and pottery as he made his way towards Jack. He didn’t quite know what he was going to do yet, but he had to do it now, or God knows what Jack would do to him when he woke up. Jack stirred in his sleep and Rhys froze.

            _How exactly am I approaching this?_ Rhys finally asked to himself, in the middle of his Boss’s bedroom, surrounded by expensive pieces of décor and furniture he had blasted to smithereens. _Yeah, this is definitely **not** a good idea. _ But Rhys continued, paving his way towards Jack’s bed and finally reaching one hand on the soft silks that draped over it, He took a breath of relief as he had not awoken Jack, or landed on any broken glass.

            Then Jack turned over and groggily opened his eyes. To see Rhys. Now terrified. Looking like he was about to crawl into bed with him.

            _This is bad._

            “What are you doing…?” Jack shrieked as Rhys finally removed his hand and lost his balance. And his back greeted hello to a lovely pile of broken glass. Still slightly sleepy, Jack threw back his sheets and swung his legs over to the side, watching as his new worker tried desperately to heave himself up off the floor without impaling himself any more. Jack would have found this hilarious if he didn’t actually need this idiot.

            His sneakers crunched on the shards below as he had not bothered to take off his shoes before bed. Rhys was now in a lot of trouble, he could feel the shards of glass piercing his skin and edging themselves deeper every time he moved. Reluctantly, he tried to wipe the tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes, trying desperately to keep them off his cheeks but felt the shards of glass protest. Sighing loudly, Jack outstretched a hand and Rhys gladly took it before wincing as the shard in his right shoulder blade nudged itself deeper.

            He heaved Rhys up from the floor and took a moment to observe the puddle of blood he left, as well as the trail it made down the contours of his back.

            “Rhys… If you wanted to kill yourself, there are easier ways to do it…” Jack tried to joke with him, still slightly seething at the sight of this idiot. Rhys tried to respond, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he started to collapse and Jack heaved to catch him.

            “Unconscious…” Jack muttered under his breath as he held onto the smaller man in his arms. “How unprofessional.” Jack whispered once again before starting to drag Rhys down the stairs.

            Maya removed her head from the comfortable couch only after the sound of Rhys’s feet hitting the next stair started to bother her.

            “Jeez what are you carrying, a body?” She mumbled absent-mindedly and Jack responded, grumpily.

            “Yes, asshole. Lend me a hand, will you?” Maya finally focused on the scene in front of her and almost leaped off the couch. With one more check to make sure Angel’s door was shut, Maya stumbled over to Jack and slung one of Rhys’s arms over her shoulder.

            “I didn’t think you’d kill him this fast, Jack. Must be a record.” She gritted through her teeth with a bite in her voice. Jack winced at her backhanded compliment and laid Rhys down carefully at the island. Still very much unconscious, he slumped onto the island top with his back to Maya and Jack. He started to walk away while Maya pulled the first aid kid from the kitchen wall, in which she had been using a lot.

            Jack sat across from Rhys, watching as his hair slowly slid from the top of his head to cover his eyes. He placed his cheek on his hand and watched as Maya prepared herself to yank glass shards out of Rhys’s bloodied back.

            “How’d this happen.” Maya was getting straight to the point now, not dealing with any shit as Jack could tell she was losing her patience with him. God knows why but her tattoos were starting to pulse, and he did not want them fully lit as of this moment.

            Jack rubbed his temples. He may have wanted this kid dead but his little friend here did not exactly agree with him. A grunt and a clank of the glass on the table as well as a whispered curse signified the start of the long journey to get all of this glass out. Maya just grumbled under her breathe at Jack’s silence and he felt too persecuted to even answer. He would tell her later, as long as she did not leave by then.

            Jack had considered that a possibility. That Maya would just suddenly one day leave and watch as Jack and family of two fell to shambles. He finally looked back up at her and opened his mouth.

            “He fell backwards Maya. I did not have any part in this, other than scaring him.” He muttered through his teeth and Maya continued to aggressively place shards of glass on the table. Rhys hadn’t moved, but Jack had definitely seen his chest rise up and down, and little groans of pain had left his mouth after one of the shards.

            “Lucky kid. He’ll want to be unconscious for this.” Maya finally replied and placed her foot on the island in front of her before heaving on a particularly stubborn glass icicle. Jack stood up and decided to help her. She looked confused for a second before moving over and focusing on the smaller shards of glass that protruded from his upper shoulder area.

            Jack placed a pair of rubber gloves like Maya’s on his hands and took a deep breath in.

            “Don’t die on me Rhysie. We’ve got work to do…” He sighed sadly and gripped the first shard he saw. After a few minutes of yanking, he finally pulled it away from the limp man’s body. A lot of blood came spurting out after it, as well as a scream produced by the man who was “unconscious” on the island.

            Rhys finally pulled his head up and turned around to look at Maya and Jack, who were standing there wide eyed. Maya gestured to her forehead with an apologetic look and Jack just opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “What is it?” Rhys stood up and walked over.

            “Are you okay?” Maya asked nervously and watched as Rhys plopped on the couch cushion heavily and stretched his arms upwards. Staring in horror, Jack and Maya could only watch as Rhys’s back starting to pour blood onto the couch cushions at an alarming rate. His fingers were starting to look very pale and Jack finally pulled him off the couch.

            “Rhys, you have to let us help you.”

            “With what? Everything’s fine!” Rhys smiled and chuckled at Jack. Meanwhile, Jack could only glance down at the puddle slowly forming beneath Rhys of a dark crimson liquid.

            Rhys finally peered down at the puddle with Jack and looked back up, smile still on his face.

            “Oh.” Is all he said before collapsing back into Jack’s arms, completely limp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *laughs hysterically* ha ha ha ha ha ha... I'm a terrible person... An oh so terrible person... I made you all wait for this shitty chapter for so long... I feel terrible...


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